Despite a delay of three weeks, the first Grand Slam tournament is about to start in Melbourne, and Ubitennis CEO Ubaldo Scanagatta has analysed the draws for the event with Steve Flink, his Hall-of-Famer colleague. As it has been the case for a few years now, the women’s event is the hardest to predict, with many players who have a shot at making a deep run – who will actually manage to, according to our insiders? 

VIDEO SCHEDULE

0:00 – Ashleigh Barty’s tenure as the world number one is unprecedented, since she hadn’t played in almost a year before this week – will she be the favourite? 

02:20 – A brief digression on the approach of the Australian government to the tournament – was the two-week quarantine over-the-top or was it further proof of the good job done by the island in repelling the virus? 

07:16 – The defending champion is Sofia Kenin, how will she handle the pressure? “She’s a big event player, but she’s never been in this situation before…” 

08:10 – Naomi Osaka and Simona Halep might square off in the semi-finals – who would have the edge?  

10:10 – The Rumanian has a tough draw: in the quarter finals, she might face Sabalenka or Serena Williams. What are the chances of the American legend? “She needs to win a lot of quick matches, the further she’ll get the more she will struggle physically.”

12:30 – Before potentially facing Williams, Halep could find herself in a rematch against Iga Swiatek: “The Pole destroyed her in Paris, I wonder whether she might do the same here…” 

13:50 – Osaka has some tough match-ups ahead as well, since Muguruza, Andreescu and Kvitova are all on her path – will one of them be able to stop her? “Andreescu is probably lagging behind in terms of conditioning, she hasn’t played in over a year…” 

14:50 – “The upper half of the draw is totally unpredictable, but I think that Kenin is among the three favourites to win it all…” 

18:20 – Back to Serena – can she make it back to another Major final and equal Margaret Court’s record? “I think she has become a little weaker from a mental standpoint ever since she lost the 2015 US Open semi-final against Vinci…” 

21:40 – Martina Navratilova and the psychological stress of playing at an older age… 

23:20 – So, who will win in the end? Our experts’ predictions.